Lakefront IPA

This brew is refreshing for an IPA, it has a light crisp taste. It’s not overly bitter but doesn’t offer a lot for your palate to take in. It’s a simple straight forward IPA. It’s not trying to accomplish too much. I respect it for staying in its lane, so to speak. Its golden brown color reminds me of a light lager. I drank a couple of these straight from the bottle. I recommend pouring it into a frosty mug for optimal flavor. The more bitter taste that one expects from an IPA becomes prominent about a 1/3rd the way into the glass. This beer provides a pleasant if not challenging nor overly rewarding experience. It would be a good beer to have when playing cards or dominoes with a group of friends; when the conversation is more important than a rich experience for your palate. This beer goes much better with food. It pairs really well with appetizers, specifically cheesy ranch fries or potato skins. Drinking it with most any food would aid in the experience of this “meh” inducing brew.

I would only pick up one of these beers in a mix and match 6 pack or on draught when out one night. There are much better American IPA’s out there, so I wouldn’t buy more than one of these, definitely not an entire 6 pack.

Lakefront Brewery was founded by brothers Jim and Russ Klisch. It all started when Russ bought Jim a homebrew book for Jim’s birthday. Russ thought this gift would shut up his brother’s talk about wanting to homebrew. To Russ’s surprise, Jim read the book and then actually brewed his own beer. After tasting the beer, Russ’s sibling rivalry was piqued and he decided he could make a better beer. The two began entering homebrew contests, to see who could win more awards. Their family and friends encouraged them to turn their hobby and sibling rivalry into a business. In 1987 they sold their first barrel of beer. Demand increased exponentially and in 1990 they started bottling their beer. They are currently celebrating their 25th anniversary year and have put out special labels and also a few anniversary beers.